South Sudan says oil output at GPOC joint venture jumps to record 60,000 bpd (updated)
UPDATE 1-South Sudan says oil output at GPOC joint venture jumps to record 60,000 bpd Adds petroleum company official on countrywide oil output, line 16
JUBA, June 4 (Reuters) - South Sudan said oil production at the GPOC joint venture had increased to a record 60,000 barrels per day, the highest level since its operations began in 2005.
President Salva Kiir's office made the announcement in a statement on Wednesday.
It said the output of the Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC) venture - led by China's CNPC, one of the main oil companies operating in the East African country, and also including Malaysia's Petronas and India's ONGC ONGC.NS - had previously been 44,000 bpd.
Kiir met senior petroleum officials and GPOC's president, urging them to raise output further.
South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 but plunged into civil war two years later. At its peak before the civil war, production stood at 350,000 bpd to 400,000 bpd.
Oil output currently stands at 174,000 bpd, Lual Chol, director-general of the petroleum ministry, told a press conference on Thursday.
South Sudan's public finances depend heavily on oil exports.
(Editing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Joe Bavier)
((nairobi.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com))
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South Sudan says oil output at GPOC joint venture jumps to record 60,000 bpd (updated)